Now fight fans will inevitably try to determine which fighter UFC President Dana White recently said struck fear in the hearts of his opponents during filming of the tournament-based competition.

"The whole house is terrified of this guy. Everybody," White said. "I picked this fight, and this guy is lined up with the guy I'm telling you about, and the guy has a nervous breakdown in the house over the weekend.

"This guy scared the living s--- out of everyone. It's awesome."

The cast boasts talent from 16 different U.S. states and territories, as well as international prospects from England, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. Seven fighters bring undefeated professional records to the show, and the cast has combined for 200 pro victories. One of them will prove victorious in the tournament and earn a six-figure UFC contract, though the UFC traditionally signs at least a few cast members to deals.

In December welterweight Colton Smith claimed the "TUF 16" title in a season that White openly admits was the worst in the eight-year history of the show. The season also turned out to be the least-watched in show history, but UFC officials are hoping for a turnaround in the new season, which sees the series shift away from Friday nights to a new Tuesday timeslot.

Widely credited for the launch of the UFC's current popularity boom, "TUF" debuted in 2005 and has produced more than 100 UFC fighters and three eventual champions. It's also spawned international versions in Brazil and Australia, with additional countries expected to debut this year.

The two-hour season debut episode sees the 28 fighters compete in an elimination round of fights, and the 14 winners become official cast members. For the first time in the show's history, each contestant was allowed to bring friends and family to the first round of fights.

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and outspoken MMA superstar Chael Sonnen serve as opposing head coaches on the series and will face off at an April pay-per-view event.

not a traditional bracket..its early on the west coast...doesn't that leave 7 winners? are they doing a bye week? or maybe do to the last season being so uneventful, they will drop the weakest fight?

I thought they have had 16 contestants

LL

01-09-2013 11:52 AM

Yeah Dana kind of spoiled it when he was talking about the guy who sends everyone to the hospital.

John8204

01-09-2013 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shady1
(Post 1668541)

Can only assume 'The Guy' is either Uriah Hall or Tor Troeng

The other two possibles are Jake Huen, and Timothy Williams. The "South Jersey Strangler" is coming from the main event scene on the indies and he has mostly finishes. Huen has a terrible record, but that was at Heavyweight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guycanada
(Post 1668672)

14 contestants in the house, 7 bouts...

not a traditional bracket..its early on the west coast...doesn't that leave 7 winners? are they doing a bye week? or maybe do to the last season being so uneventful, they will drop the weakest fight?

I thought they have had 16 contestants

Wild Card fight

mattandbenny

01-09-2013 05:26 PM

Done a quick breakdown of the TUF 17 cast, and ranked them (my personal opinion after quickly researching them).

As for the beast of the show, like others my guess is Tor Troeng. Part time rapper Kevin Casey is also a nasty dude (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc2N2TiKI3o), Nik Fekete is a Division 1 All-American wrestler, Jimmy Quinlan is a BJJ world champion, Adam Cella a star kickboxing golden gloves champion with over 60 fights, Uriah Hall is a beastly athletic muay thai fighter.

My guess was that it has to be one of them 6. Gotta be Troeng, if not my next best guess would be Cella or Hall.

Joabbuac

01-09-2013 07:32 PM

Sonnen will make for a really good coach i think.

Roflcopter

01-09-2013 08:45 PM

No one on the show is really that scary, but honestly this is a decent cast.

I think they are doing away with the oft-repeated format of throwing a bunch of complete unknown guys they found at Bar Fight Combat Championships and are know going for some established prospects.

Fekete is my pick to win if he can handle the weight.

UFC_OWNS

01-11-2013 07:02 PM

hope dylan andrews wins it he's a good guy but I don't think he will, if he just makes the quarter finals i'll be happy

hellholming

01-21-2013 12:20 PM

I hope Troeng wins it. We need more fighters from Scandinavia in the UFC.